Ever since self-confessed comic book geek/director Sam Raimi delivered a $405 million-grossing smash with "Spider-Man" for Universal Pictures, Hollywood has been entrusting art-house filmmakers with some of its most valuable properties.

Director Doug Liman continued the trend last summer when he graduated from micro-budgeted indie films ("Swingers," "Go") to steer the Robert Ludlum thriller "The Bourne Identity" to a $121 million box office take.

In the pipeline: Chris Nolan jumped from the tiny "Memento" to the bigger "Insomnia" and is now prepping a "Batman" prequel. Alfonso Cuaron, who made his splash with "Y Tu Mama Tambien," is shooting the third Harry Potter film in England. Halle Berry's superhero vehicle "Catwoman" will be directed by Pitof, a French director with one film, the little-seen "Vidocq," on his resume. Steven Shainberg, who directed last fall's low-character study "Secretary" on a shoestring, will take charge of "Urban Townie," starring Tobey Maguire.

But auteur temperaments don't always mesh with popcorn-movie sensibilities. Ang Lee endured a critical drubbing this summer for his highbrow take on "The Hulk." British filmmaker Stephen Norrington was hired to direct "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" on the strength of his sole theatrical release, "Blade." By the time the beleaguered "League" opened this summer, Sean Connery was dissing the director in public, while Norrington had reportedly written his agents a letter indicating he was finished with the Hollywood studio system.

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And last month, Paul Schrader, the veteran writer-director whose relationship-driven films include "Afflicted" and "Auto Focus," was fired from "The Exorcist IV: The Beginning" after he'd completed his cut of the film. Schrader is contractually prohibited from commenting on the latest turn of events, but when I talked to him shortly before he began the project, he sounded cautiously optimistic -- emphasis on cautious.

"I'm getting ready to go off and do my first studio film in 20 years," Schrader said at the time. "I haven't been in that world in a long time. I'm looking forward to it. We may be flat on the floor before it's all over and I may come to regret this. On the other hand, if I can stick it out and not screw up, (doing the "Exorcist" film) may allow me to finish my career standing on my own feet, rather than groveling for coins."

The buzz is more encouraging for P.J. Hogan. He's directing the live-action remake of "Peter Pan" (Dec. 25), marketed as one of the holiday's big family pictures. Hogan's credits include the estimable adult romances "Muriel's Wedding" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but he'd never made an effects- laden fantasy before.

" 'Peter Pan' is on a totally different scale from what he's done before, but P.J.'s script was brilliant and had the main thing we wanted," said "Peter Pan" producer Doug Wick. "P.J.'s script makes you feel connected emotionally to the story. Hook is this frustrated pirate on the wrong sea. Each of the lost boys are real people, and Wendy is a moving study of a girl on the edge of facing her adult life who doesn't want to leave the nursery."

Wick, who previously shepherded "Stuart Little" and "Gladiator" to the big screen, said he wasn't worried about Hogan's lack of special-effects expertise.

"We're very aware of the spectacle when we're creating Neverland and of course we're very aware of the CGI and other tools we have on hand. But the audience isn't going just to see Neverland. What P.J. has is this strange connection to things youthful and he came up with a thrilling story about growing up."

The race is on: The cavalcade of Oscar contenders begins in earnest a week from Wednesday with the limited opening of "Mystic River," so I decided to check in with Tom O'Neill, author of "Movie Awards: The Ultimate, Unofficial Guide to the Oscars, Golden Globes, Critics, Guild and Indie Honors" (Perigee; 2001).

O'Neill handicaps the Academy Awards competition each year on his goldderby. com Web site and is already predicting a best actress Oscar nomination for Naomi Watts based on her performance in "21 Grams." He also sees a big season for Sean Penn, thanks to his deep, dark turns in both "Mystic River" and "21 Grams."

But for O'Neill, this year's big surprise is Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton's romantic comedy "Something's Gotta Give" (Dec. 12). "That's the fascinating wild card of the whole awards season," he says. "Everyone who's seen 'Something's Gotta Give' says it's the rebirth of Diane Keaton's career and Nicholson's never been better."

O'Neill adds that Nancy Meyers, the film's writer-director, represents a sorely under-represented contingent of Hollywood's filmmaking community. "The movie is going to resonate in a politically correct way with the Academy because Myers is the most successful female director in history. Her Mel Gibson film ("What Women Want") earned more money than any other female- directed movie, so she already has that record. Last year we saw a musical could win best picture in the cynical 21st century. This year, we may see a comedy win. It's going to be interesting."